Digging bucket construction for excavators



Dec. 29, 1931. c CLARK ET AL 1,838,362

DIGG'ING BUCKET CONSTRUCTION FOR EXCAVATORS Filed Sept. 12, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l I N VEN TOR. A Y G (ILA/PK ARTHUR L. GRAVES Dec. 29, 1931. Av c. CLARK ET AL 1,838,362

DIGGING BUCKET CONSTRUCTION FOR EXCAVATQRS Filed Sept. 12, 1928 2 Sheets-:Sheet 2 v INVEN TOR. Z0 ARV 6? CLAIEK /4P7/7U/ L. 6/84 55.

A TTORNEY Patented Dec. 29, 1931 UNITED STATES :LPATENT OFFICE ARY o. CLARK AND ARTHUR GRAVES; or IMPERIAL, CALIFORNIA; SAID GRAVES ASSIGNOR TO IMPERIAL IRRIGATION DISTRICT, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA DIGGIIVG BUCKET CONSTRUGTIOR FOR EXGAVATORS Application filed September 12, 1928. SerialNo. 305,450.

Our present invention relates to excavators or diggers for making and maintaining canals or ditches for irrigation purposes, and more particularly to bucket construction,

mounting and operation, and in general to the construction, mounting and operation of the excavating portions of such excavators ordiggers. i

The objects of this invention are: First,

to provide a machine of this class having a very flexibly mounted and readily shiftable excavating portion; second, to provide a machine of this class which has particularly large capacity and which is very efficient,

particularly-in that the materials excavated or dug are easily, rapidly and efficiently dumped or discharged; third, to provide a machine of this class in which the greatest simplicity of construction, strength and efliciency are incorporated; fourth, to provide a digging bucket conveyer from the bucket of which all or the greater portion of the materials excavated or dug are dumped clear of the machine to the side of the canal or ditch dug, and from which the remaining materials are discharged at substantially the same place as the buckets continue at their circuitous path; fifth, to provide a novelly constructed bucket for carrying out the functions above mentioned; sixth, to provide a machine of this class embodying such bucket dumping facilities in which the buckets are directly pivotally and slidably mo'unted on the bucket carrying belt without embodying auxiliary supporting and tilting links;

seventh, toprovide such a bucketand supporting means therefor whereby the buckets are dumped without auxiliarymeans to aid in the dumping or discharging of the contents 0 from the buckets; eighth, to provide as a whole a novelmounting of such self-dumping buckets on digging conveyers; and,lninth, to provide a machine of this class which is economical of construction; easy to operate, and which will not readily deteriorate or get out of order. 7

With these and other objects in view, as will appear hereinafter, our invention consists of certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts and portions, as will be hereinafter described in detail and particularly set forth inthe appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the characters of reference thereon which form a part of this application in which:

Figure 1 is a rear elevational view of our canal excavator or digger in its preferred form of construction; Fig. 2 is anenlarged sectional ,elevational view showing a frag lnentary portion of our bucket conveyer extended around one of the supporting, and guiding'wheels, and showing one of the discharging positions of the bucket, the section being taken through the longitudinal center of the bucket conveyor; Fig. 3 is a fragmentarysectional view thereof taken at 33 of Fig. 2 looking into the bucket from the front side thereof, Fig. i is a fragmentary view thereof taken at 4-4 of Fig. 2, looking into the bucket from the inner open side thereof, certain portions being broken away-and in section to facilitate the illustration; and Fig.

5 is a fragmentary sectional view showing another form of mounting of the .bucket bracket on the belt.

Like characters of reference refer to simi lar parts and portions throughout the several views of the drawings. j

The main frame, designated 1, of our excavator is mounted at its opposite sides on tractors 2 and 3, the latter being extendible laterally from the main portion of the main frame; Beyond the rear end of the main I frame 1 is mounted the excavator or the excavating portion of the machine. lhe excavating portion of the machine isrnounted on a frame 4 which is primarily and loosely and pivotally mounted at one end, preferably at its extreme upper end, on the main frame 1. For so supporting the frame 4, there is provided an upright support 5 at the rear portion of the frame 1 and which is provided at its upper end with a backwardly extending beam 6 carrying a plurality of sheaves 7. Around these sheaves 7 and an other sheave 8 extends a cable 9 for supporting and adjusting the elevation of the frame 4. The sheave 8 is pivotally mounted on a supporting member 10 which is ,pivotally connected at its lower end on a transverse axis to the pivotal supporting member 11. This pivotal supporting member 11 is pivotally connected by a pivot shaft 12 to pivot bearings 4a at the upper end of the frame 4, as shown in Fig. 1. The pivot shaft 12 is preferably extended forwardly to the main frame of the machine and is connected to a guide member 13 which is adapted to ride upwardly and downwardly on the vertical column 54; of the supporting frame 5. The shaft 12 is therefore adapted to prevent the whole of the frame 4 from swaying forwardly and backwardly as a body. The connec tion of the shaft 12 to the guide member 13 is preferably by a universal joint connection (not shown).

At the opposite side of the main frame 1 is provided a boom 14 from the extended end of which the free, normally lower end of the excavating frame 4 is supported and by which the latter frame is raised and lowered about the pivotal axis of the shaft 12.

The frame 4, in this instance, is provided with a substantially rectangular upper portion 4?) and a downwardly extending angular leg 40 which extends toward the middle portion of the machine, that is, between the tractors 2 and 3. At the outer side of the portion 46 of the excavating frame are mounted a pair of spaced apart conveyer drive sprockets 15 which may be driven by any suitable means, such as by a power unit 26 mounted on the frame 4. Around these sprockets extend the continuous or endless link belts 16 which also extend around spaced apart flanged wheels 17 at the inner side of the frame 4, around other spaced apart flanged wheels 18 at the lower end of the an gular leg 40 of the frame 4, and then around a portion of the inner side of another pair of flanged wheels 19 positioned intermediate the drive sprockets 15 and the flanged wheels 18 and adjacent the former. These flanged wheels 19 are preferably of larger diameter than the other flanged wheels and are herein referred to as the dumping wheels. The portions of the link belts 16 extending from the dumping wheels 19 to the sprockets 15 are preferably inclined downwardly and outwardly so that the buckets 20 carried by the link belts are correspondingly tilted as the same pass over the dumping wheels and along the inclined portions of the belt. It will be here noted that the extreme ti lting of the buckets occurs while the buckets are substantially supported by the wheels 19.

The buckets 20 are preferably of thin shells having lateral side walls 20a, a bottom wall 206 inclined backwardly and inwardly,

and a back wall 200. Both the front side and the inner side, that is, the side opposite the bottom wall 206, are open, as shown best in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. The front edges of the bottom wall and the side walls are reinclose relation to each other and supported on and between the pair of spaced apart coninuous conveyer belts 16 which are in the form of link belts and which ride, except for the drive sprockets 15, upon the several pairs of wheels 17, 18 and 19, which are flanged wheels, as shown best in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. The link belts, in this instance, are made up of U-shaped links 16a, the ends of the legs of one link extending to the opposite sides of the connecting portion of the legs of the next link and are pivotally connected in such relation by bolts or rivets. Some of the links are provided at the inner sides of the ends of their legs with inwardly extending bosses 16b upon which the forward and inner portions of the buckets are pivotally mounted. For pivotally connecting and mounting the buckets on the link belts, we have provided brackets 21 which are secured to the outer sides of the side walls 20a and near their inner edges, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. The forward ends of these brackets are provided with bosses 21a which extend around the bosses 16?) of the links. The bosses 211; are retained in pivotal relation on the bosses 167) by bolts 22 which also serve as the pivotal connection of the links provided with the boss 16b and the links positioned between the legs of the former. The brackets 21 extend beyond the rear portions of the buckets and are provided with longitudinal slots 216, the slots being substantially parallel to the upper or inner edges of the corresponding buckets. The opposite sides of the slots, or the walls forming the opposite sides of the slots 217), are beveled outwardly from the central portion. Into the outer sides of these slots, extend the tapered ends of bosses 160 of other links of the link belt, preferably several links from the links provided with the bosses 167). The bosses 160 may be retained in engagement with the beveled opposite walls of the slot 216 by cone washers or members 23 which engage the inner beveled faces of the slotted portion, as shown in Fig. 4. The members 23 are secured to the bosses 160 by bolts 24 which also serve to pivotally connectthe links provided with the bosses 160 to the links positioned between the legs of the former. The walls forming the ends of the slots 21?) are preferably of greater inclination than the side walls of the slots, as indicated by 210. Thus, if any mud or other materials are caught in the slots 21?), the same may be squeezed between the ends of the slots and the portions riding therein but the mud, and the like, is automatically ejected. The purpose of the slots 21b is to permit the buckets to be securely supported at all times upon the link belt as the same ride around the various drive sprockets and supporting wheels without necessitating the use of innumerable links for yieldably supporting the buckets on the link belt as the same passes around its multi-curved circuitous path.

As the buckets pass between the wheels 19, the same are automatically tilted, as shown, causing all or the greater portion of the contents of the buckets to be discharged to the side of a ditch dug or cleaned. If any materials remain in the bucket, the same are carried around the drive sprockets and dumped through the inner opening of the bucket as the bucket is instantly leveled out after passing the upper portion of the drive sprockets, the discharge of the remaining materials being at substantially the same place as the formerly discharged material.

In the modified structure shown in Fig. 5, the opposite side Walls forming the slots 21?) are straight or flat, while the ends of the slots are constructed as in the structure described above. In the modified structure the extended bosses 160 of the links are also straight, extend through the whole of the slots in the brackets and substantially engage at their opposite sides the opposite side walls forming the slots.

Though We have shown and described a particular construction, combination and arrangement of parts and portions, we do not wish to be limited to this particular construction, combination and arrangement, but desire to include in the scope of our invention the construction, combination and arrangement substantially as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Let-- ters Patent is:

1. In a mechanism of the class described, a link belt comprising a plurality of pivotally connected links, some of said links having bosses at their pivotal portions, said bosses extending to one side of the belt, and a bucket pivotally mounted at one end on one of said bosses and provided at the opposite end with a slotted portion adapted to receive therein the boss of another link.

2. In a mechanism of the class described, a link belt, comprising belt links pivotally connected at their ends, a bucket pivotally connected at one end to said links, the opposite end of said bucket having a slotted portion with the sides forming the slots in the slotted portion beveled outwardly, and means in the slotted portion for pivotally connecting said portion to said link belt.

3. In a. mechanism of the class described, a link belt, comprising belt links pivotally connected at their ends, a bucket pivotally connected at one end to said links, the opposite end of said bucket having a slotted portion, the ends of the slot in the slotted portion being beveled and outwardly divergent, and means reciprocally mounted in said slotted portion for pivotally connecting said portion to said belt.

4. In a mechanism of the class described, a link belt, comprising a plurality of pivotally connected belt links, some of said links having bosses extending to one side of the belt, a bucket open at its inner side pivotally connected at its open side and forward portion to said belt on one of said bosses, said bucket having a backwardly extending portion having a slot therein in alignment with the portion of the bucket connected with a boss of the belt, the sides and ends of the slot in the slotted portion being outwardly beveled, one of the bosses of'the belt being tapered and extending into said slotted portion, a cone washer extending into said slotted portion against said tapered boss, and means securing said cone washer to said tapered boss for pivotally and slidably supporting the rear portion of the bucket on said tapered lgoss and said cone washer and on said link elt.

5. In a mechanism of the class described, a pair of spaced apart link belts, a plurality of digging buckets positioned between the link belts, said buckets being open at their normally front and upper sides, pivot bolts extending through the opposite lateral side walls of the buckets and secured to said belts, other pivot bolts pivotally connecting the laterally opposite sides of the rear portions of the buckets to the belts, one pair of the laterally opposite pivotal connections of the buckets to the belts being slidable with respect to the longitudinal extents of the belts. and means in connection with said pair of pivotal connections for ejecting foreign matter therefrom.

6. In a mechanism of the class described, a link belt, comprising belt links pivotally connected at their ends, a bucket pivotally connected at one end to said links, and means at the opposite lateral sides of the bucket pivotally connecting the opposite end of the bucket to the links, said means comprising longitudinally slotted members and pivot members pivotally positioned in the slots of the former, the two latter members being secured to the links and the bucket at said opposite end of the bucket, the end walls of the slots in the slotted members being beveled and outwardly divergent.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands at Imperial, California, this 20th day of August, 1928.

ARY G. CLARK. ARTHUR L. GRAVES. 

